Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 34

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

34
“You don’t know where the vagrant is?”
I descended to the first floor and asked Min-woo.
“That’s right. He didn’t come by the window. Wouldn’t he be in one of the bedrooms?”
I opened the doors one by one and found the vagrant who had supposedly arrived a few days ago.
“Um… he’s… nowhere?”
I searched the entire house, but the vagrant was nowhere to be found.
“I really didn’t see him leave.”
Min-woo’s complexion grew pale as a chill crept over him.
“The smell of blood…”
My heightened sense of smell, sharpened after my awakening, caught the scent of blood mixed with chemicals. I followed the odor to the kitchen. The smell seeped from behind the ingredient shelf.
“What smell is that?”
Min-woo sniffed the air, but of course detected nothing. My sense of smell had already surpassed that of any dog.
“There’s something behind this.”
I grasped the shelf and pushed gently. It slid smoothly to the side, revealing an iron door.
“Sir, what is this?”
Min-woo swallowed hard as he asked.
“Can you open it?”
I pointed to the keyhole in the iron door.
“If you can’t, break it.”
At this point, staying hidden was no longer the concern. Initially, I’d harbored only suspicion, but when I heard about the vagrant, doubt transformed into certainty. Now, with the scent and this iron door leading to the basement, suspicion had crystallized into absolute conviction.
“I can open it.”
Min-woo bent his finger and inserted it into the keyhole. It was more difficult than the upstairs lock, and he strained slightly, but soon the door opened.
The staircase descending into the basement was shrouded in darkness, devoid of any lighting.
I could see clearly even in the gloom, but Min-woo couldn’t see anything, so I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight.
As we descended the stairs, the basement came into view.
“Ugh!”
Min-woo vomited onto the floor.
There was a refrigerator and a large, sturdy work table. The table was stained with dark streaks, and various tools—saws, hammers, axes—hung on the walls. On the shelf beside them, severed human body parts were submerged in liquid.
I opened the refrigerator while Min-woo retched behind me. It contained more dismembered remains, all bearing expressions twisted in agony, as if they had not died peacefully.
Having witnessed such horrors in my past life, I didn’t retch like Min-woo, but it was a nauseating sight nonetheless.
“Is that the vagrant?”
I pointed to the skull in the container that reeked of freshly spilled blood.
“…Hah… hah… yes… ugh!”
Min-woo glanced at it briefly to confirm, then retched again.
I snatched the phone from Min-woo’s trembling hand and took photographs.
Since I’d discovered this underground dungeon through illegal entry, I’d need to report it anonymously. Without photographs, the investigation would undoubtedly be cursory.
“Clean that up.”
“Sir?”
“Your vomit. You want to leave evidence you were here? They’ll conduct a thorough investigation.”
If the police find the vomit, they might suspect Min-woo.
“Over there—use the bucket and detergent to clean it up.”
“Ah… Yes….”
Min-woo quietly waited as he cleaned up after himself.
“Let’s go.”
I climbed the stairs, closed the iron door again, and slid the food storage shelf aside when I heard movement behind me.
“Oh? I thought someone had come in, but isn’t this Hunter Lee Ji-seok?”
Seo Kyung-hyun was standing behind us. The basement must have blocked the sound—I hadn’t sensed his presence.
“Why did you kill those people?”
“For justice. Isn’t it my duty to dispose of trash that serves no purpose to society? Everyone I killed was a poison to society.”
“Who are you to decide who’s poison to society?”
Justice is like a nose ring on a nose or an earring on an ear—it depends on the wearer. What is justice to me might be injustice to someone else.
“My skill is Justice Sword, isn’t it? The blade grows stronger when I act justly. The fact that my sword has grown stronger means I’ve executed justice.”
Light wrapped around his blade. It was far brighter than Yang Sang-heon’s.
“Even killing villains isn’t enough to call justice—and what kind of justice is it to butcher humans like that? You’ve simply twisted justice to suit your tastes to strengthen your skill.”
“We have different perspectives.”
The smile vanished from Seo Kyung-hyun’s face, and silence fell for a moment.
We stared at each other for a few seconds before Seo Kyung-hyun suddenly thrust his blade, wrapped in light, straight at me.
I thought he was aiming for me, but he was targeting Min-woo’s heart.
There was no way I couldn’t react to a D-rank Hunter’s movements. I reached out and caught the blade with my hand.
“Huh?”
Surprised that I’d blocked it, he tried to pull the blade free, but I held firm and brought my right hand down hard against his head.
Crack! His head shattered with the sound.
“Brother, are you alright?”
Min-woo, who had collapsed in shock, asked me.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a small cut.”
The skin on my palm was slightly grazed. Even without any special reinforcement, a D-rank had managed to wound my body—he had considerable talent. If he’d been stronger, I wouldn’t have subdued him so easily.
A few drops of blood fell to the floor. I can control the toxicity of my blood freely. Normally I strip away the toxin, only activating it when needed, so the floor doesn’t dissolve—but I didn’t want to leave evidence of my presence, so I wiped up the blood.
After cleaning up, I covered my face and left through the front entrance. The security system had been deactivated when Seo Kyung-hyun entered, so no alarm sounded.
Outside the door, two cars were crashed into each other, and Yu President was lying in front of them.
“Brother!”
Min-woo ran toward him.
“Ugh… I thought I was done for.”
When Min-woo shook him awake, Yu President sat up, shaking his head.
“Brother, what happened?”
“Two people went in, and suddenly that bastard came back out. He was trying to go in, and you weren’t answering—what was I supposed to do? I rammed him with the car to buy time. I tried to apologize and call insurance, but the son of a bitch attacked me without hesitation. And why weren’t you answering your phone?!”
“Ah… I was in the basement, so I didn’t get a signal.”
“Yu President, make an anonymous report to the police. Include the photos on Min-woo’s phone.”
“What photos are you talking about?”
“You’ll know when you see them. Check the bathroom if you need to throw up.”
* * *
From the rooftop of a nearby building, I watched Seo Kyung-hyun’s house. Local police arrived within minutes, followed by several patrol cars and what appeared to be a forensics unit. Police tape cordoned off the area around Seo Kyung-hyun’s residence.
After witnessing the scene, I left the rooftop.
Later, the news reported that Seo Kyung-hyun had dismembered homeless people, and that the perpetrator who killed him remained at large.
“Given that Seo Kyung-hyun selectively targeted the vulnerable, police suspect his killer was an accomplice rather than a victim. What are your thoughts on this?”
The television news anchor posed the question to a crime specialist.
“There was no evidence at the crime scene to prove the existence of an accomplice. In my opinion, the probability that Seo Kyung-hyun acted alone is quite high. And the one who killed him was likely a vigilante.”
“So we could call them an instrument of justice for eliminating a serial killer?”
Seo Kyung-hyun had spoken of justice endlessly, only to become a serial killer himself. And now I, who had killed him, was being hailed as an instrument of justice.
Based on memories from my past life, I had written down tasks to complete. I had unexpectedly resolved one of them in an unforeseen way. I opened my notebook and drew a line through the entry about Seo Kyung-hyun.
* * *
“Why are you staring at your phone so intently?”
“Yang Sang-heon, something’s wrong with my eyes. Why is the button still gray?”
I continued staring at the Gate reservation button, but it remained gray.
“Didn’t the issue resolve after we caught Bae Na-young’s stalker?”
“It did.”
What had he done now? Had I let him off too easily?
Then my phone rang.
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok? This is Park Tae-gwan from the Gate Management Department of the Awakened Management Bureau.”
“Actually, I was about to call you because the Gate reservation isn’t working again. I thought the complaint issue had been resolved.”
“Ah, it’s not about the complaint. Your general Gate access has been blocked because you failed to meet mandatory requirements.”
“Mandatory requirements?”
“E and D-rank hunters are required to clear a certain number of Undead Gates. You skipped straight to C-rank without doing that.”
“Undead Gates…”
“You don’t want to go, right? Everyone feels that way, which is why the requirement exists.”
My reluctance must have been evident in my voice.
Undead Gates offered nothing of value. Moreover, hunters without skills to combat spectral monsters had to purchase holy water, driving up costs and making them universally unpopular.
My death in my past life had resulted from combat with the undead, which made me even more averse to them. Once Regeneration reached C-rank, I could absorb life force after hunting and engage in endless combat. But the undead had no life force, making that impossible.
“Normally, we notify hunters a few months after they obtain their license, but we never anticipated anyone reaching C-rank in that timeframe. We’re currently revising all the regulations because of you. Anyway, I’ve sent detailed information via email. Please review it.”
I opened my inbox and found an email from the Awakener Management Bureau.
“I’m confident that a hunter of your caliber will quickly fulfill the mandatory requirements. Then.”
The Awakener Management Bureau representative ended the call.
“Are you going to the Undead Gate?”
“It seems I have no choice.”
In my past life, once Regeneration reached B-rank, my offensive capabilities diversified significantly. Since things had come to this, I should not only clear the Awakener Management Bureau’s requirements but also level up my skills.
“I’ll go with you.”
Yang Sang-heon asked.
“All right. Let’s bring Bae Na-young too and go together.”
Since both Bae Na-young and Yang Sang-heon also had to clear Undead Gates as mandatory requirements, the three of us headed toward the Gate.
“Finally, I get a chance to show you what I’m capable of.”
Yang Sang-heon wrapped his blade in light as he spoke. His light-attribute sword was the ultimate skill against the undead.
“I’m the opposite. Besides mana balls, I don’t really have any other means of attack.”
Bae Na-young’s curse was far less effective against undead that were already dead and decaying.
“Since it’s E-rank, mana balls should be more than enough.”
I passed by the chattering Yang Sang-heon and Bae Na-young and stood before the Undead Gate. Memories of my final battle in my past life made my head spin.
“Let’s go.”
I steeled my resolve and entered the Gate.
The interior of the Gate appeared like a desolate cemetery. Even the ground bore its characteristic violet hue.
The moment we entered, countless skeletons rose from the earth and greeted us.
Yang Sang-heon and I charged forward first.
E-rank skeletons were no match for me—I crushed them like biscuits.
Yang Sang-heon also delighted in shattering the skeletons.
“This is way too easy, isn’t it?”
Yang Sang-heon swung his blade through the air as he spoke.
“With both of you handling things, I don’t have anything to do.”
I only dealt with those creatures approaching Bae Na-young by dodging around Yang Sang-heon and me, so Bae Na-young had little to do.
“Leave the mana stones and move quickly.”
Mana stones were like crystallized life force and mana. The more life force or mana a monster possessed, the larger the stone, and its color changed depending on whether it contained more mana or higher life force.
Skeletons with almost no life force or mana only dropped tiny mana stones, and searching for the small stones clinging to bones was a waste of time.
That’s why I didn’t call the Hwagok Recovery Service today. Today’s purpose was solely to meet the Awakener Management Bureau’s requirements and level up my skills.
I led the two of them forward, destroying skeletons as we explored deeper.
“It’s here.”
Yang Sang-heon swallowed hard as he saw the monster ranked first on the Undead Gate avoidance list.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————